**REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 00986407 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 262119**
## **Report of the Trustees and**
**Audited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
**for**
**BLINDAID**
**BLINDAID**
## **Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|**Report of the Trustees**|1 to 20|
|**Report of the Independent Auditors**|21 to 23|
|**Statement of Financial Activities**|24|
|**Balance Sheet**|25 to 26|
|**Cash Flow Statement**|27|
|**Notes to the Cash Flow Statement**|28|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements**|29 to 39|
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2022. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **MISSION STATEMENT**
As London's oldest sight loss charity, BlindAid works to improve quality of life and promotes independence for blind and visually impaired Londoners. We provide individualised practical and emotional support to reduce the social isolation that many people living with sight loss can experience.
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
## **Objectives**
The charity seeks to alleviate loneliness and social isolation affecting sight impaired and severely sight impaired people. It aims to empower service users to encourage and support independent living. The charity also supports people suffering the emotional consequences of visual impairment. Services are provided free of charge.
The charity's strategic objectives for 2022 were:
- To actively seek and recruit new directors to refresh the charity's talent on the board of trustees
- To implement the charity's funding strategy to secure future sources of income to allow expansion of its activities
- To continue to evolve charity's Community Sight Support Service to support blind and visually impaired people with a meaningful outreach service that listens to and meets the needs of its beneficiaries.
- To continue the Community Project Hub at Camden Living centre, and some popular Online Community Programmes
- To continue to evolve the charity's ability to identify and help those who can benefit from its services in the most effective way
- To develop the infrastructure and charity's capacity necessary to achieve these aims
## **Public benefit**
The activities to achieve the charity's objectives are all carried out for the public benefit as described by the Charity Commission. The beneficiaries of the charity are members of the public who are in need because of health, disability or other problems arising from visual impairment and the activities of the charity seek to ensure these people can be supported by better services. The charity sets out in this report the charitable public benefit of its activities. The Board members have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
Page 1
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
## **COVID-19 Global Pandemic 2020-2021**
In February 2020, the senior management team made essential risk assessments in relation to the impact the COVID-19 (C-19) virus may have on all aspects of the charity's operations and took the decision to cease our outreach Sight Support Service ahead of the UK Government instruction' stay at home in lockdown' at the beginning of the pandemic. The charity was fortunate to receive a good supply of free C-19 test kits and so our Sight Support Workers have been encouraged to test daily before visiting vulnerable service users. Throughout 2020/2021/2022 we continued to test, risk assess and monitor the situation carefully throughout surges or new variants of the virus, due to the vulnerability of many of our service users. Now that Government restrictions are ended, BlindAid continues to recommend to all staff that reasonable precautions in relation to testing prior to visiting service users, and to continue to carry face masks, for those service users who may be extra vulnerable and request a mask to be worn. These recommendations extend to our volunteers who also work alongside some service users. The C-19 pandemic forced rapid change within our society and also within our charity; some initial temporary changes , have now been adopted permanently, due to the unlooked for, but positive impact for our beneficiaries.
## **Service Delivery:**
**Community Sight Support Service:** Our core service normally provides regular outreach visits for service users in their own homes. Each Sight Support Worker, prior to C-19, visited approximately 5-6 service users per day, travelling on public transport or walking in between visits. BlindAid delivers service for people who are sight impaired or severely sight impaired people age 18+ however, the majority profile of our beneficiaries are 50+: with a high percentage of those people also having more complex health conditions in addition to their sight impairment. For these reasons BlindAid reaches a mostly hidden community of blind and visually impaired people, who need our help and are typically less independently mobile people when they are initially referred to our charity.
**BlindAid Community Projects:** We operated three Community Projects in different London locations within our area of operation for 8 years prior to C-19 in 2020. Service users travelled to the Community Projects venues on Dial-a-Ride or public transport to share classes on a variety of self-sustaining topics. At the onset of C-19, our Community Projects were also determined to be high risk for service users, staff, tutors and volunteers and they were closed as a direct result of the pandemic.
In 2021 The City Bridge Trust awarded BlindAid funding to provide one Community Project hub centrally based at Kings Cross for the next three years from April 2022-2024. BlindAid took the prudent decision to only reopen additional Community Projects when external funding can be secured to do in the future.
**Share London Project:** This project was initially funded by Big Lottery Reaching Communities in 2019 BlindAid was awarded £99,250.
At the end of 2019 BlindAid launched a new purely social project called Share London, which has operated throughout 2020/2021/funded through until December 2022 by Big Lottery Reaching Communities. Early in 2023, BlindAid was awarded funding to continue this vital project by The Vision Foundation.
Share London was designed by BlindAid to specifically recruit 240 volunteers across the three-year life of the project. To recruit, induct, train, and match them with like minded blind and visually impaired people to experience social activities and literally 'Share London' together.
At the onset of C-19, Big Lottery encouraged BlindAid to repurpose the Share London Project in order for beneficiaries to remain safe, and we pleased to be able to continue to fund the project.
An analysis of the charity's database evidenced that on average where service users access all three of our core services concurrently, these being the Sight Support Service, our Community Project, and additionally go on to be matched with a like minded Volunteer to experience our purely social Share London Volunteer Project, they are provided with a holistic and beneficial development pathway that tangibly improves independence and wellbeing, and helps to encourage people to become self-sustaining for many of our beneficiaries.
Page 2
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
These Three Core Services form BlindAid's Sight Support Pathway. Services are discussed in further detail in this report.
## **Community Sight Support Service:**
## **Big Lottery Reaching Communities - 2020 C-19 Response Fund Award £100K**
BlindAid applied to Reaching Communities to support our core work which is our Sight Support Service, and to design a new hybrid service structure that would facilitate relevant BlindAid services to be delivered during and post pandemic.
The largest proportion of this funding (£76K) was awarded specifically to support our Community Sight Support Service. Our skilled Sight Support Workers are employed and trained by the charity to deliver a valuable outreach service for blind and visually impaired people living in the inner London Boroughs. We believe our service is unique and meets a clear, otherwise unmet need in society. No other charity in London provides the type of outreach support that BlindAid does, so for the beneficiaries who need our service, our help is vital.
The balance of this funding (£24K) was specifically awarded to reimagine the ways we have previously provided support and to design a new Hybrid Sight Support Service. We won this significant support in September 2020 and we were required to expend the funding before the year end. BlindAid is a small charity and the timing of this win presented additional challenges for the management team in resourcing both this important project whilst at the same time, dealing with the huge spike of general operational activity produced because of the C-19 virus.
The design of the new Hybrid Sight Support Service, as always, was in consultation with our service users, as well as our staff team who deliver the service. We organised 14 online Focus Groups and each group was made up of service users from all the 12 Boroughs in which we operate. Groups consisted of between 8 and 20 people and each group were asked a detailed selection of questions about our previous, current, wished for and future services. In total we consulted with approximately 250 beneficiaries.
Our service users' responses were honest, illuminating, and informative. Most importantly by working together we defined a new way of operating more flexibly which has allowed us to reach more people than ever.
It also facilitates leaner, more agile working methods and to effectively, dial up or down, our outreach community work, which benefits us because we can respond in an agile way to the C-19 or any other service disruption going forward. The service users' bright ideas for how our service could be re-shaped were collated and are now built into our new service model. We also held online consultations with our staff team to feedback service users opinions and aspirations, encouraging open dialogue and welcoming staff opinions and ideas which are also incorporated into our improved service model.
The Big Lottery COVID-19 Response Funding, was expended within the six month allocated deadline and produced a new style service that we see as a future asset for BlindAid.
BlindAid's Hybrid Sight Support Service was operated throughout 2021 as a pilot, apart from lockdown January - March 2021, and has been fully operational from 2022. Although UK Government restrictions relating to C-19 are now withdrawn, the C-19 virus is not yet over, and so the charity continues to operate mindfully in this respect. We also continue to work with our staff team as well as listening to the voices our beneficiaries as we finesse our new service to ensure that this hybrid service provides the best overall performance outcomes possible for beneficiaries.
Our gratitude and thanks go to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities grant panel who assessed our bid and awarded such substantial funding that enabled BlindAid to transform our core service. This key funding helped to sustain our vital core service throughout a truly difficult period and has helped BlindAid to reach more people than ever before. The difference in our operating practices runs throughout our entire service process from the first assessment meeting, which ensures we are mindfully reassessing our interventions, and we have developed a greater agility in our day-to-day practice which delivers increased capability to successfully meet the challenges the C-19 virus, or any other service disruptor brings.
Page 3
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
## **Reduction in Resources 2019-2020 and 2021: Versus Increase in Service Provision:**
For comparison, pre-pandemic:
- In 2019 BlindAid Sight Support Workers totalled 17. 14 full time & 3 part time workers.
- 31 December 2019 one full time SSW retired.
- In 2020 we recorded 2 part time staff retirements and 1 full time resignation from our SSW team, 13 full time SSWs and 1 part time SSW.
The board of trustees and senior management took a conscious decision not to replace any of the above roles to save costs due to the financial uncertainty brought about by the pandemic. Fortunately, the beneficiaries who were supported by the members of staff who left BlindAid, were absorbed by all other members of the team and we did not need to withdraw any support already allocated. This was made possible because all staff were working from home initially and there were no journeys between service users.
In 2022 BlindAid recorded the retirement of 1 part time SSW and the resignation of 1 full time SSW and in addition, these roles were not replaced. BlindAid now has a total of 12 full time SSW's, working one person per Borough.
In 2020 the Sight Support Workers way of working alongside our service users was vastly disrupted, in 2021 there was still some disruption but to a lesser degree. In addition, and due to the pandemic, referrals to our charity significantly increased. As all staff were initially working from home, and so there was no journey time between engagement with service users, our Sight Support Workers were able to support substantial numbers of additional blind and visually impaired people who were in need.
During the second half of 2021 this additional capacity became an additional challenge for management. It proved to be a delicate balance to ensure we could continue to provide service to all the blind and visually impaired people we already had a commitment to, as well as avoiding the need to withdraw service as we made the return to working in the community face to face again.
This took skilful management by our Director of Operations and our service team leader to achieve, but we have carefully realigned service users with SSWs with capacity and we have not needed to withdraw any service already pledged, which is a real accomplishment and an excellent example of management team work.
Page 4
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable Activities and Achievements BlindAid Core Services:**
## **Community Sight Support Service:**
The core activity of the charity for over 189 years has been to visit predominantly isolated, blind and visually-impaired people residing in the twelve inner London boroughs in their own homes.
Latest RNIB statistics findings related to visual impairment and sight loss are:
- Over 2 million people in the UK are living with sight loss
- 340,000 people are registered blind or partially sighted in the UK
- Nearly 80% are 65 or older, c60% are 75+ plus, BlindAid is the only charity focussing on outreach for these
- people.
- 48% of all adult sight loss is attributable to Age Related Macular Degeneration.
- In 2013 there were an estimated 1.93 million people living with sight loss in the UK.
- By 2050 with the number of people living with sight loss increasing year on year 1.93 million will grow to 4 million.
BlindAid provides service for adults aged 18+, but the largest cohort of BlindAid beneficiaries are aged 50+ years. BlindAid specialises in reaching this largely hidden community of blind and visually impaired Londoners, to alleviate the isolation that so often can result from sight loss. Our Community Sight Support Service is free of charge, for anyone with any type of visual impairment, resident in the 12 inner London Boroughs which is BlindAid's area of operation. Beneficiaries do not need to be registered (CV!: Certificate of Visual Impairment) to qualify for support. BlindAid is the only specialist outreach charity based in central London offering a defined pathway of support and social connection, that prioritises Londoners who are older and isolated in the community.
Pre-Pandemic each of BlindAid's Sight Support Workers (SSWs), were responsible for supporting approximately c45-50 service users, visiting typically every fortnight. The frequency of visits may be varied to meet individual needs. SSWs typically focus on a particular borough for ease of logistics, but will also visit individuals in other boroughs to optimise coverage, where capacity permits. Since the introduction of our Hybrid Service our SSWs support around 70 service users each, visiting people most in need and supporting other via the telephone via the telephone predominately, with ad hoc visits when essential. Service users are visited at home, in sheltered accommodation or residential/nursing homes.
BlindAid's ethos is to treat each service user as an individual, prioritising those who are isolated and living alone, and delivering support as needed and valued. Most service users have been diagnosed with sight loss in adulthood; this can be traumatic, and the individual period of adjustment can vary enormously depending upon personal resilience.
Referrals for our support are received from various sources; specialist sensory teams, social work and community mental health teams of local authorities; hospital eye clinics, and GPs, as well as from people who experience loss of vision themselves (or their friends or family). An initial assessment visit is made to understand first hand individual needs, coping abilities and to determine whether the charity can be of assistance to meet those needs.
During a visit, the SSW will offer company and conversation to help alleviate loneliness and reduce isolation; practical help and guidance will also be offered where needed, appropriate and welcomed. The SSW will also encourage participation in, and signpost to both BlindAid Community & Online Projects and other suitable local social activities. Many service users who are extremely isolated have been visited consistently over many years. In some instances, the SSW will be one of the few social contacts some people have. Outreach for isolated people in the community is therefore extremely important to many service users and good relationships of trust are usually established over time.
All SSWs are employed by BlindAid and are carefully selected; they all hold current enhanced Disclosure and Barring Certificates. Although many other charities use volunteers to undertake home visits, BlindAid believes that deploying salaried, full-time staff; provides greater consistency, reliability, and a higher standard of quality of support. SSWs receive regular vocational training, and the level and quality of service is regularly monitored through fortnightly supervision meetings, as well as through key performance indicators and annual Focus Groups with service users conducted by senior management.
Page 5
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
During 2022 BlindAid continued both purposefully and successfully to increase in the charity's reach, by continuing to develop the new Hybrid service standards. The Hybrid Service has optimised visiting those with priority needs. We mindfully reassessed all service users, agreeing with them their need for visits at home. In this way we have reduced the number of days spent visiting in the community each week, whilst in addition, maintained support via the telephone for beneficiaries for whom an identified need is established that a call should be made by an experienced SSW. A longer term aim for these service users is that we support them to realise self-sustaining independence eventually, then where possible and with their agreement we could match these service users with a suitable Share London volunteer for regular social outings. We have also reviewed our initial assessment procedure and introduced key milestone re-assessments to ensure we are delivering service mindfully. We continue to review all service processes to optimise lean activity.
## For comparison:
Pre COVID-19: In 2019 BlindAid's Sight Support Service made c13,000 individual visits to service users at home, with each SSW supporting c48-50 service users, which has been a high capacity standard we have maintained across the past few years.
In 2020 visiting service users was consistent up until 16.-3.2020, when at the start of the pandemic, staff started working from home and service users were supported by their SSW via weekly calls and therefore each SSW was supporting c65 people. In 2021 we introduced our new Hybrid Sight Support Service and the number of service users being supported by each SSW was defined at 70 people per SSW which is manageable due to the increased agile working. SSWs made 36,502 contacts with service users across the year (28,891 phone calls and 1,644 visits)
In 2022 the total number of contacts made with service users was 31,583 (Staff: 28490 and Volunteers: 3093) a 13% reduction from 2021 (36502). This decrease was due to 8 months of running the hybrid service, resulting in a reduction of the overall number of contacts as visit numbers increased and call numbers significantly decreased as a result. However, the number of referrals to our charity for our services rose to 575 - a 48% increase from 2021 (388).
4,236 visits were made to service users when working in the community to April - December 2022, an increase of 157% from 2021 (1,644). Due to the threat of the Omicron variant in early 2022 which caused numbers of cases of C-19 to spike, staff temporarily worked from home Jan - March 2022.
In 2022: 21,208 regular support calls were made to service users via the Sight Support Service, a decrease of 26% from 2021 - which was an anticipated result of increasing the volume of visits across the year.
As we are now supporting many more people than in previous year, we recognised we needed to simplify, the supervision of services. Management took the decision to merge what was our stand alone telephone service into two other core services.
Service users who needed the additional support of a SSW were transferred to the Sight Support Telephone Service and are now called by a trained SSW, with the activity being recorded under the Sight Support Service statistics.
Volunteers who were making peer to peer social calls became Share London Volunteers and their activity is reported under that service.
The total of Sight Support Service contacts with service users throughout 2022 was 28490, a 6% decrease from 2021 (30,555) which was anticipated due to the increasing volume of visits in comparison to calls. Via the Sight Support Service, we provided Service Users with:
- 4,302 instances of information provision including government C-19 guidelines/vaccinations programme, a decrease of 6% from 2021 (4,613)
- 2215 referrals to other appropriate local organisations, a 13% decrease from 2021 (2,548)
- 637 referrals to social services requested by beneficiaries, a 27% decrease from 2021 (878
Page 6
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
- 1,041 contacts with housing depts/associations requested by beneficiaries, a 4% increase from 2021 (1,001)
- 207 additional beneficiaries were taken onto the Sight Support Pathway, a 61% increase from 2021 (128)
- 1,099 people were supported by the Sight Support Service in 2022, a 1% decrease from 2021 (1,115)
- Across all services 1,337 people were supported by BlindAid in 2022, a 10% increase from 2021 (1,212)
## **Vocational Staff Training:**
BlindAid remains devoted to actively driving and developing a broad, relevant specialist skill base for all SSWs ensuring maximum benefit can be derived for our beneficiaries. BlindAid believes in investing in its employees and therefore, the charity offers staff four full day training sessions each year. The curriculum offers a variety of relevant vocational training programmes providing SSWs with the practical tools they need to enjoy and fulfil their roles to the best of their abilities and to ensure that service users derive tangible benefits from engaging with our team. As our SSW team are all remote workers, training days also provide opportunity for social contact for the whole team ensuring our thriving culture endures.
## **BlindAid Core Services:**
## **Community Projects:**
In March 2020, the charity's popular and well known network of three long established Community Projects were all closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was decided that the charity could no longer afford to continue to invest its reserves to fund these valuable projects going forward. For our community of blind and visually impaired people, our Projects Hubs are a vital stage in regaining and strengthening their personal resilience and confidence to get out into society, and to maintain self-self-sufficient independence. They also offer critical social contact with the ability to establish a network of friends and additional support. Unfortunately, they are expensive to operate, costing between £30,000 to £50,000 per annum. (The financial variance is the difference between being offered free space or needing to rent space from local authorities). One of the most significant learnings taken from the seven years we ran 3 community Project Hubs was that each Hub was oversubscribed, always running at full capacity. The number of blind and visually impaired people needing to attend such projects outweighed our capacity each year.
The curriculum of courses offered has always included healthy eating and safe-cooking skills; yoga or other exercise classes; art and craft; creative writing and importantly IT training at both beginner and intermediate levels. The classes typically run over 16-week terms and participants are encouraged to attend for a minimum of one full day each week. There is a strong social focus to the activities to encourage participants to get to know each other both during classes and over lunch. It is an intended outcome that people form independent peer support groups and continue to meet and communicate after their courses have ended.
All three community projects were open to BlindAid service users, but also welcomed other people with sight loss who were referred by local authorities, NHS, or other local services or charities. BlindAid has always encouraged attendees to travel independently to the centres and has provided sighted guide support, from travel points to the project hubs. We have also consistently worked in partnership with Dial-a-Ride for many years, to provide transport where independent travel is not possible.
C-19 pandemic: All BlindAid Community based Projects were managed by a project manager and supervised day to day by a project coordinator based at each of the community venues. Classes were delivered by qualified subject tutors together with several dedicated volunteers who were on hand to assist service users where needed. Some of the charity's volunteers are themselves visually-impaired people who, having joined the projects as service users, have chosen to return as volunteers to offer peer support for newcomers at the project Hubs subsequently.
During COVID-19 2020/2021/2022 BlindAid transformed classes that had been available at community based projects. Several pilot classes were made available initially for service users online including yoga and mindfulness, creative writing: and art. The pilot classes were so successful that BlindAid readily determined to retain online classes post C-19 because the service users attending online sessions, for the first time, included a cohort of people who had previously been excluded due to either extremely limited mobility and who were not able to travel to attend in person classes.
Page 7
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
The charity listens to service users' voices regularly during the time they are attending Community Projects. We action three structured purposeful engagements with service users allowing for feedback and the measurement of progress for all stakeholders. Service Users aspirations and abilities are noted during a pre-programme assessment; benchmarked again midterm and again finally before they leave the project. Service users' opinions, therefore, are fed into BlindAid's planning, preparation and inform the final choice of classes offered, helping the charity to meet the needs of the people attending as closely as possible.
Some online classes piloted in 2020/21 have successfully continued throughout 2022. These proved very popular and define another agile way of working for BlindAid in the provision of online classes which appeal to an extended cohort of BlindAid service users.
Feedback from participants' who have attended BlindAid Community Projects in previous years has remained consistently and overwhelmingly positive; since 2014 and again in this year to date 100% of service users have met/connected with at least one new friend that they maintain connection with from attending our classes.
In late 2021 BlindAid successfully applied for a grant to fund one centrally based Community Project and was successfully awarded funding largely due to the composition of our curriculum, together with our operational experience. The City Bridge Trust awarded BlindAid £81,300 to fund our project for three years. Funding was awarded in late 2021, but the project could not commence until 22 April 2022, due to another lockdown at the beginning of the year. The project is located at The Living Centre which is a community hub located in the Francis Crick Institute in Oussulton Street NW1 1DF, close to Kings Cross Station.
BlindAid is grateful to The City Bridge Fund for their financial support of this vital Camden Community Project, and we are also grateful to the team at the Living Centre for hosting our project free of charge. BlindAid appreciates the external acknowledgment of the intrinsic value our Community Projects offer blind and visually impaired Londoners. We believe both these organisations recognise the need for this tangible support for our beneficiaries is a vital part of our Sight Support Pathway. BlindAid is now actively seeking third party financial support to enable these valuable activities to continue, expand and benefit a wider cohort of Londoners with lived experience of sight loss.
## **Share London Project:**
This project forms the final part of BlindAid's Pathway of Support.
From the initial engagement with a Sight Support Worker, and then benefitting from participation in classes at ourCommunity Project Hub, service users expand their confidence and skills to realise self-sufficient independence through their engagement with our charity. Our experiences of working with service users via our Sight Support outreach and at our Community Hub, has taught us from many years' experience, that a third support mechanism was required to ensure sight impaired and severely sight impaired people are to build sufficient confidence and independence to prevent a further retirement to the confines of their home again. We evidenced that some services users were a risk of these newly won/improved skills being eroded away if they simply retired back to their homes again without a way of continuing to use them.
Our Share London Project builds upon their newfound independence and ensures that service users can enjoy all the culture, open spaces, galleries, and other interesting experiences that London offers with the security of a trained sighted guide alongside them.
This unique social project provides beneficiaries a powerful combination of the confidence to leave home knowing their trained sighted guide is alongside, them, and can provide support if difficulties are encountered during the outing, as well as someone to share their interests with. The nature of activities vary widely and included outings such as visits to museums and galleries, a walk in the park, going for a coffee or a trip to the theatre.
Since the inception of Share London our Volunteer Coordinator has, recruited, trained, matched, and deployed the volunteer applicants. All of whom hold an enhanced DBS certification. Our 240th volunteer was registered one year and three months ahead of our project target. BlindAid thanks every volunteer who stepped forward during an extremely few years to gift their time in providing support for BlindAid beneficiaries. Our volunteers achieve so much for our beneficiaries who have found themselves in need of new friends.
Page 8
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
For Comparison:
- In 2019 we recorded a total of 628 varied activities undertaken by volunteer and service users partnerships. - In 2020 volunteers collectively achieved a total of 5,055 individual social contact calls with service users* - In 2021 volunteers achieved a total of 5,055 contact calls and outings with service users. - In 2022 volunteers achieved a total of 5,947 contact calls and outings with service users.
*This was year one of the C-19 pandemic and we are thankful that some volunteers offered to make a greater difference during this time offering to provide social calls for more than one person each week.
## **Additional BlindAid Support Services:**
## **BlindAid's Annual Celebration:**
The charity's Annual Celebration had been held for over a decade up until the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the largest social event for people with sight loss in the country, and very sadly our last Annual Celebration was held in September 2019 as it was cancelled in 2020 due to C-19.
In 2019 BlindAid welcomed over 400 guests to this wonderful event. Over 300 service users came from across all 12 inner London Borough that the charity serves, and our guests included corporate sponsors, Mayors and Dignitaries from the Boroughs we operate in, our stakeholders, trustees and friends of the charity.
BlindAid has been graciously offered the Grand Hall at Westminster Central Hall for many years free of charge, which we have always fully appreciated, and we are enormously grateful that the senior team at this prestigious venue have extended their offer to host our event in the future when it is safe to do so.
We are now planning our next event to take place in 2024.
## **Social Events and Activities:**
Prior to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, BlindAid was particularly fortunate to have been sponsored to provide many wonderful social events, all of which were free of charge for our beneficiaries, and they were incredibly popular and well attended.
## **Corporate Sponsors:**
Corporate Sponsor: Ernst & Young (EY) based at More London on Tooley Street, which is very local to our head office in Bermondsey Street SE1 3UB, with whom we have enjoyed a warm 9-year relationship: Collaboratively we have organised such events as:
**Annual Christmas Shopping Trips:** For those service users who would otherwise not be able to shop independently, over 9 years over 1,100 service users have enjoyed this special day out, shopping with EY volunteers and having refreshments before being taken home.
**River Walks:** From London Bridge to the Royal Festival Hall. So many service users have enjoyed walking along the Southbank, with their EY volunteer alongside them, audio describing the buildings either side of the River Thames as well as what was happening on the river itself. Many service users especially like to stop where there is a shoreline to listen to the waves.
We have trained c40-50 annually in Sighted Guiding techniques and issued them with certificates. Approximately, 360 EY employees have another significant skill because of their involvement with BlindAid. In 2020 and 2021 EY corporate sponsorship team have donated to BlindAid in place of holding in person events due to C-19. We plan to organise new events in 2023.
## **Corporate Sponsor: Williams Grant Distilleries:**
We have also trained many of WG employees in Sighted Guiding techniques to date and we have collaborated in organising some exciting social events including such as:
An early evening cocktail event, where specially designed cocktails and mocktails were available for service users and volunteers to try. Part of the cocktail experience is usually how they look visually, and so our drinks were designed to be especially aromatic and have sounds (popping candy) as well as multi-level flavours.
Page 9
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
An evening with WG brand ambassadors, who are particularly skilled at their crafts. This proved to be a very popular event with our service users, who were invited to taste various spirits and learn the stories of how they are distilled.
Early in 2020, prior to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns; in collaboration with Williams Grant Distilleries, we co-hosted a Sound Meditation session at Sound of Mind Studios in Shoreditch which was enriching. Over 30 service users benefitted from this event and our gratitude goes to Williams Grant for wholly funding these experiences for BlindAid beneficiaries. During the first lockdown of 2020 Williams Grant produced hand sanitiser and graciously provided two large boxes for use by BlindAid staff free of charge. BlindAid are very grateful to Williams Grant for making annual donations to the charity in place of events/activities during the past two years. We are planning to arrange new events with Williams Grant during 2023.
## **Corporate Sponsor: Financial Times:**
We have previously run a splendid Creative Writing session jointly with the FT, where senior editors of the newspaper joined our service users to talk about their experiences of journalism and writing on behalf of this prestigious newspaper.
We have also previously run Christmas Shopping Trips for this corporate sponsor. Training their employees who volunteered to guide service users for these days out and sharing refreshments together with service users before the end of the event.
We are already planning further events in 2023 with the team at FT, who have agreed to be our media partner.
## **The Charterhouse Partnership** :
For the past few years BlindAid has had an enduring partnership relationship with The Charterhouse in Farringdon. This historic former monastery (1371) was transformed by Thomas Sutton who founded his almshouse charity there in 1611. BlindAid has organised visits for many groups of our beneficiaries to attend tours to learn about this beautiful historic Tudor mansion, and to enjoy our coffee club there. We have also run our Creative Writing Class at this thought provoking venue.
## **Hair & Care Workshops:**
A series of wonderful Hair & Care Workshops have been arranged in partnership with Anna Cofone, the founder of a small CIC charity. Workshops are open to all blind and visually impaired people living in London and have welcomed service users from several other charities as well as BlindAid.
## **Touch Tours with The Tate Modern:**
We have run a number of Touch Tours of the Tate, and also for some exhibition's of specific artists work. These are always popular and well supported.
## **Information and Advice:**
The collation and dissemination of relevant information for our beneficiaries has always been an important and integral part of all the charity's activities and services, and our Community Sight Support Workers have always offered the provision of relevant information and guidance for service users daily during their work.
This may include information relating to specific eye conditions as well as details of other services available in their local area including social or sporting activities. Throughout the C-19 pandemic this connection was a vital service for our beneficiaries. BlindAid earned reputation for reliable unbiased quality information provision, as we were already a trusted voice within our community of service users, we were able to offer objective information from the NHS in relation to C-19 and the vaccination program. We therefore began to record our SSWs activities particularly with respect to this subject, and during 2020/2021 we recorded the following statistics: 2020 - 4,062 instances of SSWs engaging in the provision of information relating to the pandemic. In 2021: 5391 and in 2022: 4302.
Page 10
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
This feedback was gifted to us from many of the individual services users who participated in our 14 Focus Group calls undertaken in 2022 which included between 8 and 20 service users in each group who were representative of all Boroughs in the charity's area of operation. For many of our service users, the UK's vaccination programme has been a key subject of conversation for service users and SSWs have been able to ensure that all service users had adequate access to NHS sources of information to ensure they were reading or being read the most appropriate sources of information to support them in their personal decision making about having a vaccination where at all possible.
BlindAid assists people with sight loss to obtain local authority and other statutory services or concessions to which they are entitled, and additionally acts as a broad information and advice hub for all visually impaired people who contact the charity. For callers' resident elsewhere in the UK the charity will make referrals to other local sight loss charities via Visionary, an umbrella organisation for all small sight loss charities across the UK.
## **Aids and Equipment:**
The charity aims to improve the quality of life of visually impaired people by assisting them to secure practical aids and equipment that facilitate independent living.
## **The Clothworkers Foundation Grant Award:**
BlindAid has enjoyed an enduring relationship for many years with The Clothworkers Foundation and receives an annual grant of £50,000 each year for distribution to beneficiaries who are nominated for a grant award by SSWs, or other professional workers who know the individual service user's circumstances. Applications for grants are made for aids and equipment that support and facilitate independent living. In 2019 Clothworkers changed the grant award and reporting timing to run from April to March the following year. In previous years this had run between January and December. This grant funding enables the charity to provide financial support and the purchase of a variety of aids, equipment (not provided by statutory services) and other items that assist independent living.
In 2022 BlindAid were able to retain £7,500 to offset the cost of administration of this grant. BlindAid's Grant award was paid to bank on 25 July 2022.
This is specifically a grant for grants programme and BlindAid provides financial assistance for beneficiaries from this grant in various ways.
Small grants are awarded for items such as talking aids, microwaves and talking scales for instance, and other small items under £100.00. The total in 2022 was £2,754 (2020 £2,544).
The charity makes small awards to local organisations to help fund other social activities for visually impaired people.
- BlindAid awarded £3,000 to Blackfriars Settlement 17.11.2022
- BlindAid also awarded a grant to Lewisham Talking News of £2,000 paid in early 2022 from 2021 funding
- BlindAid awarded a grant to The VIP Singers of £2,000 paid in early 2022 from 2021 funding
- BlindAid awarded grant to The VIP Singers of £3,000 in 2023 from 2022 funding
- The charity awarded 114 individual grants in 2022 totalling £31,034. (2021 - 114 grants £29,063)
- The total for individual grants, includes costs for sending out 500 BlindAid large print calendars to beneficiaries who register to receive one each year and who rely upon them, and over 500 Christmas Cards to beneficiaries who would otherwise not receive a card.
## **Collaboration and Consultation:**
**Vision Foundation:** (previously Greater London Fund for the Blind)
BlindAid was a member charity of the Greater London Fund for the Blind (GLFB), together with 9 other local charities serving blind and visually impaired within the M25 area for many years. GFLB acted as an umbrella fundraising organisation on behalf of its member charities and made allocations to members as contributions toward the provision of their core services. In October 2019 Greater London Fund for the Blind repurposed and renamed their charity to The Vision Foundation at a formal launch event on 16 October 2019, which senior management from BlindAid attended.
Page 11
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
A consultation period followed, and on 11 March 2020 representatives of the member charities attended a meeting to vote on the dissolution of the membership. Each member charity was paid a proportionate settlement grant following this vote and the acceptance of the grant precluded any further regular allocations toward the delivery of core services for blind and visually impaired people in London.
BlindAid is now a partner organisation with Vision Foundation and continue a productive working relationship, and we will apply to Vision Foundation from time to time for funding for specific projects. However, in 2022 Vision Foundation merged with Fight for Sight.
Throughout 2022 BlindAid has continued to actively seek and remain open to opportunities to collaborate with other charities where it may be mutually beneficial. We have also joined more online webinars, and some online conferences which have been both informative and useful.
The charity, primarily through its Chief Executive, Operations Director, and new Head of Fundraising, maintains relationships with key visual impairment forums and many other charities both local and national, within and outside the visual impairment sector. BlindAid is also a member of Visionary, ACEVO and the Association of Chairs amongst others.
During 2022 as in previous years we have continued to work in some capacity with numerous other charities either working in the sight loss sector and/or those also supporting elderly people in the community.
BlindAid regularly consults service users using structured methods to ensure that their voices are heard, and their needs are being met effectively, and this has occurred more frequently during 2021and 2022 with Focus Groups, as previously described above. We also receive feedback from service users through our day-to-day contact with service users.
In the past couple of years BlindAid has been approached to work with Healthwatch in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in relation to their Community Insights Repository. Healthwatch needed additional assistance to reach specifically blind and visually impaired residents within the Borough of Tower Hamlets to complete online questionnaires relating to the digitalisation of healthcare services in the Borough. BlindAid SSWs played a key role in assisting c40 service users who wished to participate in the provision of feedback questionnaires to have their views and voices heard by the local authority. Also, BlindAid was approached to work alongside Healthwatch Wandsworth in similar joint working ventures benefiting our beneficiaries.
In 2022 the NHS launched four main NHS Independent Car Pathways Trusts that quarter the 32 Boroughs of Greater London. At the end of 2022 BlindAid was awarded funding for our Community Sight Support Service in Wandsworth from South West London ICP from their Health Inequalities Funding Stream.
## **British Wireless for the Blind:**
BlindAid enjoyed a significant, longstanding relationship with BWFB, acting as the agent for BWFB across all 12 Inner London Boroughs which is a wide operating area. The charity held stocks of equipment and recorded/audited stock movement through many years. We also delivered and demonstrated how to use, listening devices (radios, cassette players, CD players) for registered blind or partially sighted people. All equipment is maintained or exchanged free of charge subject to BWFB criteria.
BlindAid resigned as a BWFB Agent in 2020 and in order that BlindAid beneficiaries are not deprived of the services of BWFB, the charity subsequently has continued to make referrals to BWFB, who then arrange to deliver and demonstrate the various listening devices they offer, using their own team of volunteers.
Page 12
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE**
## **Strategy Review**
BlindAid supports a total of c1,400 people annually, who are living with varying degrees of sight loss and are resident in London, with the provision of various services ranging from guidance and information to complex practical support.
To ensure BlindAid services remain relevant strategy is reviewed annually by trustees and senior management, taking account of all the charity's stakeholders, professional co-colleague who refer to the charity and we also listen to the voices of our beneficiaries.
At the close of 2021 the board of trustees agreed that in 2022, Management would begin a recruitment campaign to refresh the board of trustees. A number of BlindAid Trustee's joined BlindAid in 2013 and would therefore have served 9 years with the charity in 2023. In January 2022 a Skills Analysis was conducted to establish the skills and expertise that charity wanted and needed to take it forward into the future. Throughout 2022, Senior Management, met with substantial numbers of candidates informally, to select the most appointable candidates to meet with trustees on our Nominations Committee. During 2022, BlindAid appointed 5 new trustees, which included a new Chair of Trustees. Throughout the year, 4 trustees stood down from the board. The Treasurer of BlindAid has also served 9 years with the charity and graciously agreed to remain on the board until a suitable candidate can be appointed, for which the charity is grateful.
The trustees determine that the charity's core activity should continue to be the alleviation of the social isolation suffered by many people with sight loss, and to serve this aim the trustees have endorsed substantial investment from reserves into our core services in previous years. To balance this planned expenditure; a key pillar of the strategic plan was that in conjunction with the investment from reserves to provide service for more beneficiaries year on year, the charity must also develop its own ability to generate income and identify significant sources of sustainable new funding for the future.
In 2018 a fundraising consultant was commissioned to contribute to the charity's fundraising strategy, and to work with the senior management team to support learning and fundraising practice and generate additional income for the charity. This collaboration was concluded in 2020, with trustees endorsing training investment in BlindAid staff to realise the development of the internal capacity to generate additional income for BlindAid. From January 2020 three senior staff adopted responsibility for fundraising, and whilst there is a resource/time cost to offset, this proved significantly less expensive than using external fundraisers. It is a core aim for BlindAid to raise sufficient external funding eventually to wholly support its vital core services going forward and we aim to attain this within the next 2-3 years. To this end, BlindAid appointed a new Head of Fundraising in November 2022.
Our new Chair of Trustees has already designed a new Governance structure for BlindAid to improve strategic work themes being managed by new working groups, chaired by new trustees with specific skills and talents to maximise efforts to support senior management to move the charity forward against strong headwinds created by C-19 pandemic followed by the UK Cost of Living Crisis, which has impacted the third sector significantly, and all charities, both large and small.
New trustees are also ambassadors for BlindAid and are tangibly working to support senior management in the challenges the charity is facing in the immediate future.
Page 13
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Financial Mitigation 2019-2022:**
In March-April 2019 the trustees acted prudently to de-risk the charity's investments by moving to safer investment funds. This action was primarily taken due to the then financial climate and impending Brexit which was completed in January 2020, unfortunately, followed in March by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been and continues to be impossible whilst continuous new variants of C-19 linger still, and the UK now faces a challenging economic outlook, to speculate on the eventual financial impact of both Brexit and COVID-19 on the charity's investments, at the end of 2022 the charity suffered losses on investments of c£152,000. In 2022 trustees prudently took the decision to encash 2 years' operating costs as a precaution against further investment losses.
In February 2020, senior management decided the charity had no need to furlough staff, and alternatively elected to totally redesign the way BlindAid operated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we completed this huge task ahead of the UK first lockdown, moving to a work from home status on Monday 16 March 2020. Simultaneously, we needed to focus upon making sustained efforts throughout 2020/2021 which continued throughout 2022 to mitigate the pandemic's financial impact on BlindAid and we did this by:
1. Making cost savings where appropriate and possible
2. Not replacing staff who retired/resigned and reallocating duties to other staff
3. Renegotiating supplier contracts
4. Making significant numbers of applications for grant funding to support our core services
5. Applying for specific Government COVID-19 funding. (2020 - £174K)
6. Considering ways of capitalising on our property asset, Lantern House which is owned by BlindAid.
In 2022 the board of trustees approved the appointment of a new Head of Fundraising, to increase BlindAid's strategic ability to develop the charity's fundraising capacity to apply for more sustainable external funding to support the expense of core services delivery for our community of beneficiaries.
The prevailing financial impact relating to Brexit, global political issues, and the global COVID-19 pandemic naturally remain under constant review by the board of trustees and senior management. BlindAid's approach will continue to be prudent, conservative, and cautious in its fiscal management as always, but especially throughout this unprecedented and challenging time for all organisations.
Page 14
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Financial Review**
Total income from donations and legacies for 2022 were £180,259, this being a decrease of almost 18.8% from 2021of £221,953.
2022 was the first year post the COVID-19 global pandemic, 2 years post Brexit, with cost of living escalating in the UK. The funding landscape in the UK for charities has hardened considerably.
The charity has in previous years received some income from legacies, often from former service users. By its nature, such income is not possible to predict and thus can vary significantly from year to year. In the past two years legacies have been minimal. In 2022 BlindAid received total legacies of £24,705.
In addition, the charity received a grant of £50,000 from The Clothworkers' Foundation. BlindAid disburses this funding in grants for visually impaired people and some small organisations for people with sight loss on behalf of Clothworkers Foundation annually. In 2022 BlindAid was permitted to retain an administration fee as a contribution for disseminating the funding of 15% this being £7,500.
The other source of income for BlindAid is from the charity's investment portfolio and interest on deposit accounts. In 2022 the charity received £42,776 in total and this was a decrease from the previous years total investment income of £63,059.
## The reduction in income yield is threefold:
1. It reflects the trustees' decision to move the charity's investment funds to more secure holdings presenting less financial risk which was completed in Spring 2019. This decision which was promoted by the prevailing financial climate driven by the then impending Brexit; the UK left the EU on 31 Jan 2020. This resulted in lower dividends.
2. The prevailing global COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020 and the resulting financial uncertainties.
3. BlindAid sells some of its investments annually to fund its ongoing operational activities. For comparison: in 2021 £280,000 (2020 £200,000) whereas in 2019 when deficits were higher, investments were sold valued at £600,000 with this being a typical amount sold in the years prior to this as well.
In 2022 trustees voted to encash investments sufficient for 2 years of operating costs to minimise risk of further losses on investment. Naturally this also reduces the charities income. Therefore, holdings in CCLA Diversified Income fund were sold and funds transferred to our CCLA deposit fund. Holdings with L&G in both international and UK indexes were also sold.
In 2022 the investment portfolio saw a net loss on investments of £151,753 compared to a gain of £273,549 in the previous year.
In the past three years BlindAid has successfully significantly reduced the element of reserves invested in the direct furtherance of the charity's strategic objectives. At the outset of our previous five-year strategic financial plan, it was acknowledged, that by 2019/20 the charity would commence its own fundraising campaigns. This point in our fiscal planning was both expected and planned for. However, at this important transition point for BlindAid we also saw the impact of the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, which naturally brought the charity's finances further into to sharp focus.
During 2022 the trustees and management have scrutinised the charity's finances regularly. It was established early in 2020 that BlindAid would employ conservative fiscal management, throughout the period of the pandemic and that this would be intentionally pursued to achieve prudent costs savings, which have been attained. It was further determined that the charity must now resolve to work to actively to reduce its deficit expenditure year on year until the charity attains a breakeven point.
Page 15
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
This to be balanced with operational stability which is vital and crucially underpins our increasingly important fundraising campaigns and it was therefore acknowledged that transition to breakeven operating status cannot be attained in the immediate term.
Therefore, in 2021 the deficit was £171,061 which was a significant decrease in expenditure of 39% (2020 £280,326) and is a saving of £109,265 on the previous year. This reflects in part the continuation of the charity's investment in its services, but also cost savings immediately being attained year on year.
However, 2022 was a harder financial year for the charity predominantly because of external forces and the financial climate in the UK, as our deficit increased again in part due to escalating costs; to £675,989 up by 295%, which also includes losses on investments of £151,753.
## **Investment policy**
The charity's policy is to invest its assets across a range of asset classes to generate returns, through income and capital appreciation, to support its activities over the longer term.
The Charity's trustees determined to move some of the charity's investments funds to avoid undue risk which was completed in April 2019 as previously stated. For clarity, investments previously held in Charifund, a UK equities trust managed by M&G were transferred to L&G and invested in both UK and International Index Trusts. Investments managed by CCLA in COIF (Charities Official Investment Fund) were transferred to CCLA's new Diversified Fund.
Given that we emerged from the pandemic into a more inflationary environment, which has created more investment volatility, the investments with both CCLA and L&G were reviewed again in 2022 with a view to reducing risk within the investment portfolio by holding more in liquidity funds (i.e. cash alternatives). As explained in the Financial Review above.
Page 16
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Reserves policy**
BlindAid maintains a restricted endowment fund in accordance with donors' requirements. Accumulative investment gains earned by the endowment have been saved alongside the investment itself. Trustees are permitted to allocate part of the unapplied total return to the unrestricted income fund, being mindful of striking a balance between current and future beneficiaries. In 2017 trustees agreed the total endowment fund should not be reduced below a level to keep the original endowment sum in line with inflation as measured by Retail Price Index (RPI).
The fund in total at December 2022 was £600.990. The original endowment value was £215,000 at December 1996. In 2023 trustees may consider such a transfer to unrestricted reserves.
In previous years the trustees established designated funds to cover fixed assets (including the refurbishment costs of the charity's offices completed in 2017); and projected costs of operating the community projects. On 16 March 2020 all three of BlindAid's Community Projects were closed due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 it was decided that BlindAid could not continue to cover the cost for all three Community Projects from reserves. Therefore, the charity began fundraising to secure external funding to sustain its centrally located Camden Community Project over a further five-year period. In 2021, BlindAid was awarded funding from The City Bridge Trust of £81,300 to support the Camden Community Project for a three year period, with an option to then apply for 2 years extension funding.
The trustees have this year chosen to introduce a designated fund to cover the next three years of delivering the vital Community Sight Support Service. This cost totals £1m and has been included within the designated funds for this reporting year and the following two years, 2024 and 2025.
During previous years, trustees agreed BlindAid should operate a strategic deficit budget to invest surplus reserves to expand the charity's services in support of Londoners living with sight loss. As a result, an operating deficit (i.e. before gains or losses on investments) has been made for the past 16 years or so. Whilst our deficit was substantially reduced in 2021, it rose again in 2022 largely due to external financial forces and therefore we additionally anticipate operating a deficit in 2023.
The trustees have considered the minimum level of free reserves i.e., total reserves excluding restricted, endowment funds required to support the charity's operations.The free reserves as at the year end that have not been designated towards the core service is £232k. Relevant factors to monitor include projected financial performance and an assessment of the risks to the charity's existing income streams.
It has been determined that, given the reliance of BlindAid on its investments to fund operating expenses, along with the more volatile investment environment because of higher inflation, which is also likely to increase BlindAid's costs, a higher cash/liquid asset buffer should be maintained of around 12-24 months of required expenditure (based on the average deficit of the last few years).
This policy and underlying factors are considered annually, and the minimum reserves requirement is, therefore, expected to change over time, as the investment outlook and funding position changes.
## **Going concern**
The trustees consider the charity a going concern. There are sufficient reserves to support the planned operating activities of the charity.
Page 17
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **PLANS FOR THE FUTURE**
Specific objectives for 2023 are:
1. To lease Lantern House to provide a sustainable income for the charity.
2. To support succession planning and continue to recruit new trustees in 2023.
3. To work within a new Governance Structure for the development/benefit of BlindAid.
4. To pursue NHS ICP Trusts funding for core services.
5. Launch BlindAid's Sight Support Pathway in collaboration with partner organisations.
6. Develop BlindAid's fundraising capability to support continuing expansion of services.
7. Continue to recruit and deploy volunteers delivering ancillary services
8. Continue to review investment strategy considering the current UK financial climate.
9. Monitor BlindAid's new Hybrid Sight Support Service.
10. Secure extension funding for SHARE LONDON.
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document**
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
## **Directors/Trustees**
The Members of the charity's Board who served during the year are the Directors of the Company under the Companies Act 2006. Current Members are listed on page 20.
Board Members are trustees within the meaning of the Charities Act 2011. Members are appointed by the Board; details regarding the method of appointment and removal of Members are in the Charity's Articles of Association.
New Board Members receive induction and training appropriate to their experience of trusteeship and knowledge of the field of visual impairment. All are encouraged to invest time visiting head office to understand each employee's work, and to spend time out each year with any of the Sight Support Workers meeting some of our Service Users first hand. Trustees are encouraged to attend the annual celebration of the Charity's work, to join staff training days, to visit BlindAid community projects to engage with service users and to understand the work the Charity undertakes to provide skills for blind and visually impaired people to maintain their independence.
The powers of the Board are described in the Articles of Association. The Board holds four meetings each year. Each Board Meeting is preceded by a meeting of the Finance & Resource Committee Chair: Honorary Treasurer and including the Vice Chair and the Chief Executive.
The day-to-day management of the charity is delegated to the Chief Executive under the Board's supervision.
## **Risk management**
The Board reviews the charity's risk register quarterly currently, but at least annually. The work of Sight Support Workers (SSWs) in providing guidance and support to vulnerable people implies a duty of care. Safeguarding is of paramount concern and features annually in the training schedule. The Operations Director has oversight for the planning of the curriculum for the on-going vocational training for the whole team, including volunteers. The charity recognises the importance of staff supervision, and all SSWs attend supervision meetings every two weeks. The Sight Support Team Leader focuses on induction training for new Sight Support Workers, as well as fortnightly staff supervision meetings. The Team Leader also supervises performance management to ensure that all SSWs operate within agreed quality standards. The charity also acknowledges its duty of care to its staff in relation to remote working in the community. The charity has reviewed administration and finance functions (last in February 2021) and is satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate its exposure to its major risks.
## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Company number** 00986407 (England and Wales)
Page 18
**BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
**Registered Charity number** 262119
## **Registered office**
C/o Bwbca Limited Dukes Court Duke Street Woking Surrey GU21 5BH
## **Trustees**
T Barnard (resigned 5.12.22) M K Gaffar - Corporate Consultant F M Hibbert (resigned 31.12.22) A Pankhania (resigned 28.3.23) K Ramo (resigned 31.12.22) A Saunders (resigned 30.9.22) R Holdsworth- Investment Manager A Rawal - Senior Partner EY (appointed 30.9.22) Chair of Trustees A Sandleson - Psychotherapist (appointed 30.9.22) N de Silva - CEO Age UK (appointed 30.9.22) A J Gordon - Retired (appointed 30.9.22) J W F Small - Associate Partner WTW PLC (appointed 31.1.23)
## **Company Secretary**
S O'hara
## **Auditors**
Knox Cropper LLP (Statutory Auditor) 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD
## **Bankers**
Lloyds Bank PLC Camberwell Green Branch 25 Camberwell Green London SE5 7AB
## **Accountants**
BWBCA Limited Dukes Court Duke Street Woking Surrey GU21 5BH
## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES**
The trustees (who are also the directors of Blindaid for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Page 19
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES - continued**
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
- there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and
- the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
## 26/09/2023
Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on its behalf by:
## Sue O'Hara
................................................................. Sue O'Hara (Sep 26, 2023 16:16 GMT+1) S O'hara - Secretary
Page 20
## **Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of Blindaid**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Blindaid (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 December 2022 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
- In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 December 2022 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006**
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the Report of the Trustees for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the Report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
Page 21
## **Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of Blindaid**
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Report of the Trustees.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
- the trustees were not entitled to take advantage of the small companies exemption from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report or in preparing the Report of the Trustees.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Page 22
**Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of Blindaid**
## **Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Independent Auditors that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
-We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charitable company and determined that the most significant are the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' (SORP), in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
-We understood how the charitable company is complying with those frameworks via communication with those charged with governance, together with the review of the charity's documented policies and procedures. The charitable company is required to comply with both company law and charity law and, based on our knowledge of its activities, we identified that the legal requirement to accurately account for restricted funds was of key significance.
-The audit team, which is experienced in the audit of charities, considered the charitable company's susceptibility to material misstatement and how fraud may occur. Our considerations included the risk of management override and allocation of costs to charitable activities and restricted funds.
-Our approach was to check that the income from donations, grants and legacies were properly identified and accurately disclosed, that expenditure complied with the control procedures and was appropriately charged. We confirmed the movements and income from investments, including unrealised gains/losses. We also reviewed journal adjustments and unusual transactions and considered the identification and disclosure of related party transactions.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Shoaib Arshad (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Knox Cropper LLP (Statutory Auditor) 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD
27/09/2023 Date: .............................................
Page 23
## **BLINDAID**
## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
|Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
Notes
£
£
**INCOME AND**
**ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
2
**137,759**
**42,500**
Investment income
3
**42,776**
**-**
**Total**
**180,535**
**42,500**
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Raising funds
4
**58,359**
**-**
**Charitable activities**
5
Community Sight Support
service
**551,365**
**-**
Camden Community Project
**39,264**
**-**
Grants
**11,877**
**38,788**
Big Lottery Share London
**47,618**
**-**
**Total**
**708,483**
**38,788**
Net gains/(losses) on
investments
**(106,987)**
**-**
**NET**
**INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**
**(634,935)**
**3,712**
**RECONCILIATION OF**
**FUNDS**
Total funds brought forward
**2,185,115**
**49,055**
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED**
**FORWARD**
**1,550,180**
**52,767**|**31.12.22**
Endowment
**Total**
fund
**funds**
£
**£**
**-**
**180,259**
**-**
**42,776**
**-**
**223,035**
**-**
**58,359**
**-**
**551,365**
**-**
**39,264**
**-**
**50,665**
**-**
**47,618**
**-**
**747,271**
**(44,766)**
**(151,753)**
**(44,766)**
**(675,989)**
**442,393**
**2,676,563**
**397,627**
**2,000,574**|31.12.21
Total
funds
£
221,953
63,059
285,012
62,793
562,963
-
45,038
58,828
729,622
273,549
(171,061)
2,847,624
2,676,563|
|---|---|---|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 24
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Balance Sheet 31 December 2022**
|Unrestricted
funds
Notes
£
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible assets
13
**298,165**
Investments
14
**204,464**
**502,629**
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stocks
15
**1,563**
Debtors
16
**111,197**
Cash in hand
**962,213**
**1,074,973**
**CREDITORS**
Amounts falling due within
one year
17
**(27,422)**
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**1,047,551**
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS**
**CURRENT LIABILITIES**
**1,550,180**
**NET ASSETS**
**1,550,180**
**FUNDS**
18
Unrestricted funds:
General fund
Fixed assets
Community Sight Support Services
Restricted funds
Endowment funds
**TOTAL FUNDS**|Restricted
funds
£
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**52,767**
**52,767**
**-**
**52,767**
**52,767**
**52,767**|Endowment
fund
£
**-**
**397,627**
**397,627**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**397,627**
**397,627**|**31.12.22**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
**298,165**
**602,091**
**900,256**
**1,563**
**111,197**
**1,014,980**
**1,127,740**
**(27,422)**
**1,100,318**
**2,000,574**
**2,000,574**
**232,015**
**298,165**
**1,020,000**
**1,550,180**
**52,767**
**397,627**
**2,000,574**|31.12.21
Total
funds
£
313,564
2,227,436
2,541,000
1,563
101,907
55,631
159,101
(23,538)
135,563
2,676,563
2,676,563
1,871,551
313,564
-
2,185,115
49,055
442,393
2,676,563|
|---|---|---|---|---|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 25
continued...
## **BLINDAID (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00986407)**
## **Balance Sheet - continued 31 December 2022**
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on ............................................. and were signed on its behalf by:
27/09/2023
.............................................
M K Gaffar - Trustee
Ajay (Sep 27, 2023 00:02 GMT+3) ~~.............................................~~ A Rawal - Trustee
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 26
## **BLINDAID**
## **Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
|Notes
**Cash flows from operating activities**
Cash generated from operations
1
Net cash used in operating activities
**Cash flows from investing activities**
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Sale of fixed asset investments
Interest received
Dividends received
Net cash provided by investing activities
**Change in cash and cash equivalents**
**in the reporting period**
**Cash and cash equivalents at the**
**beginning of the reporting period**
**Cash and cash equivalents at the end**
**of the reporting period**|**31.12.22**
**£**
**(555,493)**
**(555,493)**
**(1,526)**
**1,473,592**
**2,917**
**39,859**
**1,514,842**
**959,349**
**55,631**
**1,014,980**|31.12.21
£
(594,026)
(594,026)
(8,706)
460,000
-
63,059
514,353
(79,673)
135,304
55,631|
|---|---|---|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 27
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **1. RECONCILIATION OF NET EXPENDITURE TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES**
|**Net expenditure for the reporting period (as per the Statement**
**of Financial Activities)**
**Adjustments for:**
Depreciation charges
Interest received
Dividends received
Realised and unrealised (gains)/loss on
Increase in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
**Net cash used in operations**|**31.12.22**
**£**
**(675,989)**
**16,924**
**(2,917)**
**(39,859)**
**151,753**
**(9,290)**
**3,885**
**(555,493)**|31.12.21
£
(171,061)
19,981
-
(63,059)
(273,549)
(101,860)
(4,478)
(594,026)|
|---|---|---|
## **2.**
## **ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS**
|**Net cash**
Cash at bank and in hand
**Total**|At 1.1.22
£
**55,631**
**55,631**
**55,631**|Cash flow
£
**959,349**
**959,349**
**959,349**|**At 31.12.22**
**£**
**1,014,980**
**1,014,980**
**1,014,980**|
|---|---|---|---|
The notes form part of these financial statements
Page 28
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Basis of preparing the financial statements**
The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS102, have been prepared under the historical cost convention with the exception of investments which are included at market value. They have been prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards, the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice' Accounting and Reporting by Charities' (SORP 2015), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.
## **Income**
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the Trust that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.
## **Expenditure**
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.
## **Raising funds**
Raising funds includes all expenditure incurred by the charity to raise funds for its charitable purposes and includes costs of all fundraising activities, events and non-charitable trading.
## **Governance costs**
These represent those costs attributable to the management of the charity's assets, organisational administration and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.
## **Allocation of support costs**
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charity's programmes and activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities. The bases on which support costs have been allocated are set out in note 7.
## **Tangible fixed assets**
Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life. Freehold property is accounted for on a component cost basis with each component being depreciated over its economic life as shown below.
**Freehold Property Other Assets** Fabric of building - Over 70 years Fixtures & fittings - 15% on cost & 4% on cost Doors and windows - Over 20 years Computer & office equipment - 25% on cost Partitioning - Over 10 years
Page 29
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued**
## **Stocks**
Stocks consist mainly of small items of aids and equipment and are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.
## **Taxation**
The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
## **Fund accounting**
General funds - These are funds which can be used in accordance with the charity's charitable objects at the discretion of the board.
Designated funds - These comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Restricted funds - These funds are subject to specific restrictive conditions imposed by donors or funds received for specific purposes and projects.
Endowment funds - These are represented by a permanent endowment fund, the BlindAid Fund, which stipulates that the capital of the fund must be retained and cannot be spent. The BlindAid Fund is wholly invested in Legal & General International Index and Legal & General UK Index units (see note 15) and income arising from the Fund is used for charitable activities.
## **Pensions**
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for the benefit of its employees and directors. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity. Contributions payable are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year they are payable.
## **Termination benefits**
Termination benefits are payable when employment is terminated before the normal retirement date , or whenever an employee accepts voluntary redundancy in exchange for these benefits. The charity recognises termination benefits when it is demonstrably committed to either (i) terminating the employment of current employees according to a detailed formal plan without possibility of withdrawal or (ii) providing termination benefits as a result of an offer made to encourage voluntary redundancy.
## **Donated services and facilities**
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the general volunteer time given to the charity is not recognised and refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.
On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.
## **Investments**
Investments are included in the Balance Sheet at bid-market value. Gains and losses on disposal and revaluation of investments are credited or charged to the Statement of Financial Activities. Investment income and gains arising on endowment funds are accounted for on a total return basis.
Page 30
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES**
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Clothworkers funding|**50,000**|50,000|
|Big lottery funding|**13,349**|28,898|
|Corporate donations|**29,805**|1,683|
|General donations, grants and trusts|**62,400**|141,172|
|Legacies|**24,705**|200|
||||
||||
||**180,259**|221,953|
||||
During the year the charity was the beneficiary in four estates which the charity has recognised income of £20,689 (shown above). As at the year end there was £20,689 outstanding.
## **3. INVESTMENT INCOME**
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Investment income from listed investments|**39,859**|63,059|
|Deposit account interest|**2,917**|-|
||**42,776**|63,059|
The shares in Lantern House Management Limited produce no income.
## **4. RAISING FUNDS**
## **Raising donations and legacies**
|**Raising donations and legacies**|||
|---|---|---|
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
||**£**|£|
|Staff costs|**46,825**|51,459|
|Advertising for legacies|**1,350**|675|
|Professional fundraising|**299**|249|
|Support costs|**9,885**|10,410|
||**58,359**|62,793|
Page 31
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **5. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS**
|**CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS**||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Community Sight Support service
Camden Community Project
Grants
Big Lottery Share London||Direct
Costs
£
**354,989**
**15,016**
**-**
**23,370**
**393,375**||Grant
funding of
activities
(see note
6)
£
**-**
**-**
**38,788**
**-**
**38,788**||Support
costs (see
note 7)
£
**196,376**
**24,248**
**11,877**
**24,248**
**256,749**|Totals
£
**551,365**
**39,264**
**50,665**
**47,618**
**688,912**|
|2021 Comparative|Direct
Costs||Grant
funding
of
activities
(see note
6)||Support
costs
(see note
7)||Totals|
||£||£||£||£|
|Community Sight Support service|343,317||-||219,646||562,963|
|Grants|-||33,607||11,431||45,038|
|Big Lottery Share London|30,155||-||28,673||58,828|
|||||||||
|||||||||
||373,472||33,607||259,750||666,829|
|||||||||
|||||||||
## **6. GRANTS PAYABLE**
|**GRANTS PAYABLE**|||
|---|---|---|
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
||**£**|£|
|Grants|**38,788**|33,607|
|The total grants paid to institutions during the year was as follows:|||
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
||**£**|£|
|2 grants to VI organisations for community|||
|projects (2021 - 1)|**5,000**|2,000|
|The total grants paid to individuals during the year was as follows:|||
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
||**£**|£|
|114 grants for general purposes (2021 - 114)|**31,034**|29,063|
|Small grants (not greater than £50)|**2,754**|2,544|
||**33,788**|31,607|
The grants to individuals and grants to organisations were funded by a grant received in the current year from The Clothworkers' Foundation. The grant included a contribution of £7,500 towards the dissemination of the grant.
Page 32
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **7. SUPPORT COSTS**
|**SUPPORT COSTS**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Raising donations and legacies
Community Sight Support service
Camden Community Project
Grants
Big Lottery Share London||Other
£
**5,810**
**127,118**
**17,804**
**8,821**
**17,804**
**177,357**|Governance
costs
£
**4,075**
**69,258**
**6,444**
**3,056**
**6,444**
**89,277**|Totals
£
**9,885**
**196,376**
**24,248**
**11,877**
**24,248**
**266,634**|
|2021 Comparative|Other||Governance
costs|Totals|
||£||£|£|
|Raising donations and legacies|6,262||4,148|10,410|
|Community Sight Support service|142,621||77,025|219,646|
|Grants|8,318||3,113|11,431|
|Big Lottery Share London|22,209||6,464|28,673|
||||||
||179,410||90,750|270,160|
||||||
The charity initially identifies the costs of its support functions. It then identifies those costs which relate to the governance function. Having identified its governance costs, the remaining support costs together with the governance costs are apportioned between the charitable activities on the basis of time expended on each activity.
## **8. NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Auditors' remuneration|**5,800**|5,680|
|Depreciation - owned assets|**16,925**|19,981|
## **9. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS**
There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 December 2022 nor for the year ended 31 December 2021.
## **Trustees' expenses**
There were no expenses reimbursed to trustees for the year ended 31 December 2022 nor for the year ended 31 December 2021.
Page 33
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **10. STAFF COSTS**
||**2022**|2021|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
||||
|Wages and salaries|**514,055**|509,027|
|Social security costs|**41,110**|42,995|
|Pension costs|**37,295**|38,005|
||||
||**592,460**|590,027|
||||
||||
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|
|Office staff|**4**|4|
|Community Support Services staff|**15**|15|
||**19**|19|
The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:
|||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|---|
|£70,001|- £80,000|**1**|1|
The amount of employer's pension contribution for the highest paid employee was £5,427 (2021 - £5,427).
There are two employees included in office staff that are considered to be key management personnel. Their aggregate emoluments for the year was £120,456 (2021 - £127,985).
## **11. 2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**
|**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
Investment income
**Total**
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Raising funds
**Charitable activities**
Community Sight Support service
Grants
Big Lottery Share London
**Total**|Unrestricted
funds
£
171,953
63,059
235,012
62,793
562,963
11,431
58,828
696,015|Restricted
funds
£
50,000
-
50,000
-
-
33,607
-
33,607|Endowment
fund
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|Total
funds
£
221,953
63,059|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||285,012|
|||||62,793
562,963
45,038
58,828|
|||||729,622|
Page 34
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
|**11.**|**2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - continued**|**2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - continued**|**2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - continued**|**2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - continued**|**2021 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - continued**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|Total|
|||funds|funds|fund|funds|
|||£|£|£|£|
||Net gains on investments|265,599|-|7,950|273,549|
||**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**|(195,404)|16,393|7,950|(171,061)|
||**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**|||||
||Total funds brought forward|2,380,519|32,662|434,443|2,847,624|
||**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|2,185,115|49,055|442,393|2,676,563|
## **12. PENSION COMMITMENTS**
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the charity to the fund and amounts to £37,295 for the year (2021 - £38,005). There were £3,194 of contributions outstanding at the balance sheet date (2021 - £3,046).
## **13. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
|**COST**
At 1 January 2022
Additions
At 31 December 2022
**DEPRECIATION**
At 1 January 2022
Charge for year
At 31 December 2022
**NET BOOK VALUE**
At 31 December 2022
At 31 December 2021|Freehold
property
£
**192,325**
**-**
**192,325**
**83,017**
**3,847**
**86,864**
**105,461**
109,308|Fixtures
and
fittings
£
**238,112**
**-**
**238,112**
**43,300**
**9,462**
**52,762**
**185,350**
194,812|Computer
& office
equipment
£
**56,457**
**1,526**
**57,983**
**47,013**
**3,616**
**50,629**
**7,354**
9,444|Totals
£
**486,894**
**1,526**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**488,420**|
|||||**173,330**
**16,925**|
|||||**190,255**|
|||||**298,165**|
|||||313,564|
Page 35
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **14. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS**
## **Listed Investments**
|**Listed Investments**||
|---|---|
||**2022**
2021|
||**(£)**
(£)|
|**MARKET VALUE**||
|At 1 January 2021|**2,227,435**
2,413,887|
|Disposals|**(1,473,592)**
(460,000)|
|Gains / (losses)|**(151,753)**
273,548|
|||
|||
||**602,090**
2,227,435|
|||
Investments included in Unrestricted Funds are:
COIF Income Units of £Nil (2021 - £8,780) and Diversified Income Fund - Class 3 of £Nil (2021 - £1,183,827), which are invested in the COIF Charity Funds managed by CCLA Investment Limited.
L&G International Index Trust of £Nil (2021 - £193,703) and L&G UK Index Trust of £Nil (2021 - £194,268).
Shares of £1,100 (2021 - £1,100) in Lantern House Management Limited, an unlisted company.
Investments included in Endowment Funds are L&G International Index Trust of £339,233 (2021 - £376,097) and L&G UK Index Trust of £261,757 (2021 - £269,660), less an amount allocated to General Unrestricted Funds under Total Return Accounting.
## **15. STOCKS**
|**15.**|**STOCKS**|||
|---|---|---|---|
|||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|||**£**|£|
||Stocks|**1,563**|1,563|
|**16.**|**DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**|||
|||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|||**£**|£|
||Other debtors|**111,197**|101,907|
Page 36
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **17. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR**
||**31.12.22**|31.12.21|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Trade creditors|**878**|960|
|Social security and other taxes|**13,122**|11,716|
|Other creditors|**7,152**|5,387|
|Accruals and deferred income|**6,270**|5,475|
||**27,422**|23,538|
## **18. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
|Net
movement
At 1.1.22
in funds
£
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General fund
**1,871,551**
**(618,011)**
Fixed assets
**313,564**
**(16,924)**
Community Sight Support Services
**-**
**-**
**2,185,115**
**(634,935)**
**Restricted funds**
The Clothworkers' Foundation
**49,055**
**3,712**
**Endowment funds**
Endowment fund
**442,393**
**(44,766)**
**TOTAL FUNDS**
**2,676,563**
**(675,989)**
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
resources
expended
£
£
**Unrestricted funds**
General fund
**180,535**
**(691,559)**
Fixed assets
**-**
**(16,924)**
**180,535**
**(708,483)**
**Restricted funds**
The Clothworkers' Foundation
**42,500**
**(38,788)**
**Endowment funds**
Endowment fund
**-**
**-**
**TOTAL FUNDS**
**223,035**
**(747,271)**|Transfers
between
funds
£
**(1,021,525)**
**1,525**
**1,020,000**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Gains and
losses
£
**(106,987)**
**-**
**(106,987)**
**-**
**(44,766)**
**(151,753)**|At
31.12.22
£
**232,015**
**298,165**
**1,020,000**
**1,550,180**
**52,767**
**397,627**
**2,000,574**
Movement
in funds
£
**(618,011)**
**(16,924)**
**(634,935)**
**3,712**
**(44,766)**
**(675,989)**|
|---|---|---|
||||
||||
||||
Page 37
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **18. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued**
## **Comparatives for movement in funds**
|||Net|Transfers||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||movement|between|At|
||At 1.1.21|in funds|funds|31.12.21|
||£|£|£|£|
|**Unrestricted funds**|||||
|General fund|1,155,680|(175,423)|891,294|1,871,551|
|Fixed assets|324,839|(19,981)|8,706|313,564|
|Strategic planned deficit|900,000|-|(900,000)|-|
||2,380,519|(195,404)|-|2,185,115|
|**Restricted funds**|||||
|The Clothworkers' Foundation|32,662|16,393|-|49,055|
|**Endowment funds**|||||
|Endowment fund|434,443|7,950|-|442,393|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**|2,847,624|(171,061)|-|2,676,563|
|Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above||are as follows:|||
||Incoming|Resources|Gains and|Movement|
||resources|expended|losses|in funds|
||£|£|£|£|
|**Unrestricted funds**|||||
|General fund|235,012|(676,034)|265,599|(175,423)|
|Fixed assets|-|(19,981)|-|(19,981)|
||235,012|(696,015)|265,599|(195,404)|
|**Restricted funds**|||||
|The Clothworkers' Foundation|50,000|(33,607)|-|16,393|
|**Endowment funds**|||||
|Endowment fund|-|-|7,950|7,950|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**|285,012|(729,622)|273,549|(171,061)|
Designated funds comprise the following:
A fixed asset reserve, including the refurbishment costs for the charity's premises in 2017;
A strategic planned deficit reserve to cover projected deficits over the next two years, reflecting the trustees' decision to use surplus reserves to expand charitable activities. The fund balance was revised following the impact of COVID-19. The strategy is to secure third party income to fund ongoing charitable activities and therefore the strategic planned deficit has been transfered back the general fund.
Community Support Services reserve to cover the next three years of service delivery.
Page 38
continued...
**BLINDAID**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2022**
## **19. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES**
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 December 2022.
## **20. ENDOWMENT FUNDS**
||**Unapplied**
**Total Return**|**Trust for**
**Investment**|**Total**
**Endowment**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|||||
|**Balances as at 1 January 2022**|**227,393**|**215,000**|**442,393**|
|||||
|Return for the year||||
|Investment loss|(44,766)|-|(44,766)|
|||||
|Allocated to Unrestricted Income Fund|-|-|-|
|||||
|Net movement for the year|(44,766)|-|(44,766)|
|||||
|**Balance as at 31 December 2022**|**182,627**|**215,000**|**397,627**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|2021 Comparative|Unapplied
Total Return|Trust for
Investment|Total
Endowment|
||£|£|£|
|||||
|Balances as at 1 January 2021|219,443|215,000|434,443|
|||||
|Return for the year||||
|Investment gain|97,529|-|97,529|
|||||
|Allocated to Unrestricted Income Fund|(89,578)|-|(89,578)|
|||||
|Net movement for the year|7,951|-|7,951|
|||||
|Balance as at 31 December 2021|227,393|215,000|442,393|
|||||
|||||
Page 39